Broke Guy Day Care: AT&T Park playground

While I’m not a stay-at-home dad (I couldn’t handle the acronym nor the impact on my ability to pay the mortgage), I appreciate a good, fun, cheap — OK, free — outing with the young’n as much as the next broke guy or gal.

Michael Macor/Chronicle

You don’t need a ticket to enjoy the Coke bottle.

So I’ve gotta share my recent discovery, which surprisingly few people seem to know about — a free ticket into AT&T Park, home of your soon-to-be-rid-of-Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants. Granted, you won’t get to see Barry, the Giants or smell the garlic fries and drink the overpriced beer. But you get to take the kid(s) out to the ballpark, and you get to slide down the twisted innards of a big-ass Coke bottle.

Our trip to the ballpark was semi-accidental. My wife and I, Ben, and one of his best buddies, Evan, and his dad rode the Alameda/Oakland Ferry into San Francisco to do a little roaming around. We wandered down the Embarcadero and stopped at a playground in South Beach. I remembered reading somewhere that the giant Coke bottle playground at AT&T Park was occasionally open to the public, so we strolled over to the backside of the ballpark.

We could see no activity, but the gate was open. We stole our way inside, and a Giants’ employee welcomed us, signing us in for security purposes. Then we climbed the stairs to the bleacher section and headed for the playground — after a brief stop to ring the bell on the cable car.

Only four other people were there — a mom and her son, and two Giants employees, one watching the slides, one serving up big fat pitches at the mini-ballpark. It gave me the satisfying feeling of having snuck into the ballpark — not that I’ve ever done such a thing, at least not in a major league ballpark as an adult. And I got to check out the slides and the giant mitt without being accused of being a weenie for not paying sufficient attention to the action on the field.

Ben and Evan spent about 45 minutes on the slides, which they gave a two little thumbs-up rating, and running around. But they thought the playground needed some swings. I tried to entice them into playing a little wiffle ball in the mini-stadium but it was lunch time, and pizza beckoned across King Street.

Pluses: A free peak at a great ballpark, no crowds, no lines at the restrooms or concession stands, no drunks spilling beer on you.

Minuses: No concession stands open, no garlic fries, no beer, no baseball (Wait! That last one could be a plus given this season’s on-field performance by the hometown boys).

Bonuses: Plenty of streetcars and boats — even a drawbridge — nearby to entertain transportation-fixated toddlers.

The big Coke bottle playground, officially known as the Coca Cola Fan Lot, is open to the public — free! — year-round when the Giants are out of town. From Sept. through May, it’s open Saturdays and Sundays only from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. During June, July and August, it’s open daily from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.